Hezamazing Goes for Third Classic

With two wins in the last three runnings of the Arapahoe Park Classic Stakes, steady old Hezamazing has little to prove in the biggest race of the Arapahoe meet. However, with a doubling in purse size this year to $100,000 for Colorado’s richest thoroughbred race, his connections are obviously hoping he has one more Classic victory in him.  Last year, the California-bred son of Indy Film made it look easy, romping to a six-length win over a field that included two-time Mount Elbert Stakes winner Dance to the Star.

Hezamazing loves to run on Arapahoe dirt

Still running hard at age eight, Hezamazing last time out broke a string of also-ran efforts with a win in the Front Range Stakes, his first return to the winner’s circle since the 2012 Classic. Prior to that he finished sixth in the Arapahoe Park Sprint Stakes, a race that saw three horses that went off at better than 20-1 odds claim the first three spots. While Hezamazing may be giving up some years to his rivals in the Classic, he’s also enjoyed his best success at Arapahoe, with 11 wins in 19 starts in Colorado.

Florida-bred Red Lead looms as a challenge

He’ll be facing a full field of 12 for the 1 1/8 miles Classic, including the top four finishers from last year’s race. That includes the aforementioned Dance to the Star, who is trying to win the Classic in his fourth attempt, Behold De Buy and No Stadium, both of whom are coming off wins in allowance company.  An outside challenger will be Red Lead, who ships in from Prairie Meadows. A seven-year-old Florida bred, Red Lead has a number of graded-stakes starts to his name, most recently running sixth in the Grade III Cornhusker Handicap.